Life Skills ~vs~ Child Labor Laws

[Ikari Warrior]

Both my teenage sons are into coding and 3D animation. They're not bad with it and are adamant this is the avenue they'd like to pursue in life.

Is there a site they can legally use to build their resumes and earn some summer cash by providing these services on a small scale? Something like Fiverr or another online marketplace.

Of course, this would take a backseat to homework. Thanks for any tips.

 

[jtara]

AFAIK, at least in the U.S., a minor cannot enter into a legally-binding contract. You would have to the one to sign-up. Then you need to check the site's rules - do they allow you to delegate work? Do they have specific rules for minors?

And this is not "labor" per se, as nobody is hiring them as an employee.

Finally, unfortunately, most of these kinds of sites are a raw deal for workers. It is a race to the bottom, price-wise.

 

[D.T.]

Agreed with the above.

Honestly, if they're into 3D, coding, AR/VR, the best thing they could do at that age is find a good intern program. No monetary comp, but they'd learn a ton, learn how real production studios work, things they probably haven't been exposed to like source control, scoping. When you say "coding" I'm assuming game type development, working with Unity, Unreal, etc.

Of course that's easier said than done depending on the area.

 

[fig]

Agreed with the above posters.

And honestly, if they want to get some attention, help them plan out their own project and put it out there. They'll get a lot more attention (and potential opportunity) creating something that gets recognized than working on nickel and dime projects for other people.

 

[kiwipeso1]

Both my teenage sons are into coding and 3D animation. They're not bad with it and are adamant this is the avenue they'd like to pursue in life.

Is there a site they can legally use to build their resumes and earn some summer cash by providing these services on a small scale? Something like Fiverr or another online marketplace.

Of course, this would take a backseat to homework. Thanks for any tips.

You are best to get them to code for either Android or iOS. Android only requires a reasonable amount of space on a Mac computer, and a gmail account for google marketplace, before publishing it will cost $25 for merchant access.
Apple uses Xcode and a certain amount of space on a mac computer, along with a developer account that costs US$99 a year.
Both Android and iOS use similar APIs, so the trick is to learn both if you need to do cross platform.
However, that would be only necessary if you have time and demand for both platforms.

 

[AlliFlowers]

Is the goal to earn cash or to do something that will make their resumes look great? If they concentrate on the latter, the former will follow.

 

[D.T.]

You are best to get them to code for either Android or iOS. Android only requires a reasonable amount of space on a Mac computer, and a gmail account for google marketplace, before publishing it will cost $25 for merchant access.
Apple uses Xcode and a certain amount of space on a mac computer, along with a developer account that costs US$99 a year.
Both Android and iOS use similar APIs, so the trick is to learn both if you need to do cross platform.
However, that would be only necessary if you have time and demand for both platforms.

Just kind of a general FYI: If they're doing 3D/game/VR type coding, they're _probably_ not going to want to do it via native 2D/3D SDKs on either, they're probably already using a game engine, that would be [easily] portable to both (or more) platforms.

With VR apps, you can pretty easily self-publish as well, VivePort, WearVR, Oculus Store, for free - it's a small community, but it's very concentrated, and I know there are "recruiters" that keep a close eye on talent using those resources (note that I'm mostly not talking about mobile platform development).

Is the goal to earn cash or to do something that will make their resumes look great? If they concentrate on the latter, the former will follow.

So true, I'm not sure their experience, portfolio, understanding about professional expectations, but if they have the core skillset and show some potential, boost visibility, publish free, demos, get engage (repeating this part) with an existing shop in an intern capacity.

 

[960design]

Both my teenage sons are into coding and 3D animation. They're not bad with it and are adamant this is the avenue they'd like to pursue in life.

Is there a site they can legally use to build their resumes and earn some summer cash by providing these services on a small scale? Something like Fiverr or another online marketplace.

Of course, this would take a backseat to homework. Thanks for any tips.

Have them watch this and tell them to not worry about their resume. Build something great and they will not need a resume, they will need assistance with setting up a company.

Remember to be nice to them, maybe they will let you drive the Ferrari to and from the track.

 

[kiwipeso1]

Just kind of a general FYI: If they're doing 3D/game/VR type coding, they're _probably_ not going to want to do it via native 2D/3D SDKs on either, they're probably already using a game engine, that would be [easily] portable to both (or more) platforms.

With VR apps, you can pretty easily self-publish as well, VivePort, WearVR, Oculus Store, for free - it's a small community, but it's very concentrated, and I know there are "recruiters" that keep a close eye on talent using those resources (note that I'm mostly not talking about mobile platform development).



So true, I'm not sure their experience, portfolio, understanding about professional expectations, but if they have the core skillset and show some potential, boost visibility, publish free, demos, get engage (repeating this part) with an existing shop in an intern capacity.

Right, but it is a waste of time and money to use a game engine that takes a cut of all sales.
Instead it is considered quicker to render the graphics and then insert them in the game assets.

Also, internships are a waste of money unless you are in tertiary education on that course.
Instead, what this parent's kids are looking at is a family company run by the parents and work done by the kids until such time as they are old enough for university.

 

[AlliFlowers]

My rising high school senior nephew got an unpaid internship at any engineering firm this summer. He's done so well he's now getting paid and will be able to keep the job part-time through his senior year.

Think long-term.

 

[D.T.]

My rising high school senior nephew got an unpaid internship at any engineering firm this summer. He's done so well he's now getting paid and will be able to keep the job part-time through his senior year.

Think long-term.

Yes (underlined emphasis mine )

I have no idea what the poster above mean by "internships are a waste of money". Maybe this is some kind of language/locality confusion[?], but as you and I both know, internships have no cost, the intern works for free, their "payment" is exposure and experience. My previous company, we had an intern 3 summers in a row, young kid, his Dad was good friends with my CFO - anyway, he got such a good foundation, he was able to work in a professional capacity while attending school (GATech!), and over the last several years has been in high demand in his field (Computer Vision).

I did an extended gig in the Valley with a startup in the AR/VR space, they had a couple of interns, one was finishing up his degree - with his real world exposure in an actual studio, combined with his formal degree he got picked up by a *major* company, who made a point of saying their decision was highly motivated by his internship.

Congrats to your Nephew